


Phantom Pains

by NovaWynn



Category: Resident Evil - All Media Types
Genre: Caring!Sasha, Established relationship - Piers/Sasha, Insecure!Piers, M/M, Piers is an Alien addict pass it on, Piers lives AU, Scarred!Piers eacuse of the C-virus mutations, Wheelchair bound!Sasha, phantom pains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-11
Updated: 2018-05-11
Packaged: 2019-05-05 07:26:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14612745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NovaWynn/pseuds/NovaWynn
Summary: Even if Piers doesn't want to admit it, Sasha knows he's suffering from bad phantom pains. This seems to be a particular bad bout of them for Piers. Sasha decides to help him.





	Phantom Pains

**Author's Note:**

> Just something exploring phantom pains for both Piers and Sasha. Because there is no way neither of them have those, so time to explore it!
> 
> And I figured it'd be fun to show Sasha struggling with English a little. Speaking in a second language sometimes isn't easy!
> 
> Thanks to my Beta and Rare Pair enforcer, Sam.

There were times where living with Piers was easy. But then there were times like these. The times where Piers chose to ignore issues rather than face them. Especially when it came to phantom pains. 

Piers had once told him; sometimes, his arm and shoulder, well, pretty much every scarred part of his body, hurt. Sometimes the pain was so intense he couldn’t ignore it and ended up needing to take some painkillers for it to be manageable. Where the phantom pain came from, no-one really could figure out. Rebecca had once said it might be the memory of what happened to him. A psychological issue in a sense. 

Sasha, however, knew better. He knew all too well what it meant to have the kind of pain no-one else could explain. The kind no doctor could find a cause for. He still felt the pain in his back sometimes. Well, maybe it couldn’t really be labeled as a phantom pain. He sometimes could still feel the Plaga wriggling on his spinal column, which couldn’t really be characterized as a pain. Well, it hurt when it entered his body, and towards the end when it threatened to turn him into one of those monsters. That’d been bad. But the feeling of something wriggling against his spine was far worse. 

He didn’t like seeing Piers in pain. He didn’t like it one bit. And he knew Piers hid it sometimes. The reason why was beyond him, but there were the little signals he’d learned to pick up on. 

The way he shifted in his seat, the way he touched his shoulder, tiny grimaces, a general uneasy demeanor about him. These were all sure signals of what was going on. Sasha would know. He did the same things when he had his phantom wriggles as he’d come to call them. 

Piers currently displayed those signals. Obviously thinking Sasha wasn’t paying attention, he reached up to touch his shoulder, rolling the joint, a small grimace on his face. 

Unknowns to him, Sasha could see. Having gone into the kitchen to make them some popcorn for the movie, he had the bowl in his lap as he watched Piers. He let out a soft sigh, rolling his chair over to Piers’ side of the couch. “Hurts?” he asked softly, holding out the bowl.

“I’m fine.” Came automatic reply, Piers not even taking his eyes off the TV as he took the bowl. 

Sasha let out a soft sigh, glancing over to the TV. Of course Piers wasn’t really paying attention. He always got like this whenever Alien was on. After all, why would you pay attention to anything when your favorite movie was showing? “That’s not what I asked, Piers.” There was an exasperated note to his voice. “I know you’re fine. I asked whether you were in pain.”

“No, I’m not.” He replied, tearing his gaze away from the TV. “I’m fine. Sshh, the good part’s coming up.”

Sasha shook his head, turning the chair. “Piers.”

“Shh.” Piers shushed him again, his eyes back on the TV. 

He shook his head, glancing over to the TV to find the alien bursting out of the man’s stomach. He winced slightly at the sight. He didn’t understand why Piers found this movie appealing. But, it was his favorite, so he was willing to grin and bear it. even if the movie hit a little close to home with the whole ‘alien bursting out of the stomach’ scene. He could still remember the way the Plaga wriggled around against his spine, almost as if it wanted to burst out of him. He wheeled himself around to the other side of the couch, pulling himself out of his wheelchair and flopping down on it, letting out a soft grunt. He scooted closer to Piers, not surprised in the slightest when he wordlessly lifted his arm, a silent invitation to curl up against him.

Instead of doing just that, Sasha reached out for his arm, gently grasping his hand with both of his, slowly starting to rub his thumbs over the back of his hand. To anyone else, the texture of Piers’ was odd. The strange bumps and rough skin making up the scar tissue. To Sasha, it was normal by now. It didn’t bother him in the slightest. It never had. He didn’t understand why people weren’t able to see past the scar tissue and the milky eye. They weren’t the things that made Piers, Piers. It was just his appearance. What made Piers, Piers, were all the other things. His personality, his ‘oddities’, it was the inside which mattered most. It was an added bonus Piers looked incredibly attractive, too. 

Touching the scars bothered him even less. God only knew he’d touched enough scar tissue in his life. After all, growing up in a country where a civil war raged, things like this became common place. Perhaps a sad thought, but it was the reality of his childhood. Not a single family in the town where he lived was unaffected. Each family had one member in it who’d been scarred due to the rebels and the government fighting it out on the streets. 

“What are you doing?” Piers asked, sounding shocked. 

“the same thing you do for me.” he simply replied, his fingers now working on his wrist, moving in slow circles, gently pressing into the skin and muscle as he worked his way up to his lower arm. 

“What?” 

Glancing up at Piers, Sasha could see the questioning look his eye. “I’m doing the same thing you do for me.” He repeated. “When my legs hurt.” Sometimes, he couldn’t help but feel a nagging pain, akin to a lingering muscle ache in his legs. Which, you know; wasn’t meant to be possible considering the fact his legs were completely numb. He kept telling himself it’s all in his head, but it never made him feel any better at all. 

“I’m fine, Sasha.” Piers tried drawing his arm away again, scooting a little more into his corner of the couch. 

“Piers.” Sasha said softly, looking up and gently holding his arm still. “I can tell when you’re lying. You’re in pain.”

“I’m not.”

“You are. You’re in pain. I don’t like seeing you in pain.” 

Piers let out a soft sigh at this, leaning back against the couch. “You don’t need to do that.”

“Why not?”

“You just don’t.” Again, he tried tugging his hand away.

This time, Sasha let him. He let out of a deep sigh, scooting closer to Piers and reaching out, gently cupping his face to turn it towards him. “Talk to me.” he said softly. 

“There’s nothing to talk about.” Piers got to his feet, running his hand through his hair. “Its fine, Sash.”

Sasha couldn’t help but smile at this, knowing Piers was about to walk away from the conversation. “You know, that’s not really fair. Walking away when I can’t.” he lightly joked.

Piers paused, looking back at Sasha. “What?”

“You’re walking away. I can’t exactly follow you like this.” he made a gesture to himself, indicating his numb legs. “That’s not exactly fair, Piers.”

He let out a deep sigh. “You’re right, I’m sorry.” He slowly sat back down, looking over to him. “You don’t have too, I’ll deal with it.”

“I want too.” Sasha replied. He scooted closer, leaning into him and reaching for his arm. He gently grasped Piers’ bicep, his fingers working into the muscle, brushing over the scar tissue. He leaned forward, pressing a kiss to the top of Piers’ shoulder. He kept a close eye on him, seeing the way he looked a little reluctant, but at the same time, he could see him starting to relax. “I don’t mind doing this.” he said, leaning over to kiss his cheek. 

“I do.” Piers replied.

“Why? This isn’t different from when you massage my legs.” 

“Because…” Piers let out a deep sigh. “Because it’s not something you should have to do.”

Sasha frowned. “I don’t understand.”

He shook his head, reaching up to run his hand through his hair. “Because I’m supposed to be able to deal with the pain. I’m a soldier-”

“Piers… just because you’re a soldier, doesn’t mean you cannot feel pain.” His hands kept moving up, now working on Piers’ shoulder. “You’re human first, Piers, the love of my life second, a soldier third.” He leaned over to kiss his scarred cheek. “And that order cannot be changed. Under any circumstances.”

Piers gave a half smile. “The love of your life, huh?”

“You say it like you doubt me.” Sasha couldn’t help the mischievous smile on his face.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” he let out a soft sigh. “I’m not used to this. To you just touching my scars like it’s nothing. To you looking at me and saying I’m beautiful while clearly I’m not.”

“Piers, there is more to beauty than appearance.” 

“You know that sounds cheesy right?”

Sasha let out a deep sigh, letting go of Piers’ shoulder, he lifted himself up, intending to pull himself into Piers’ lap. 

When Piers noticed this, he reached out, lifting Sasha into his lap so he essentially straddled his lap. “You didn’t answer the question.” He grinned.

“Yes, I realize it sounds cheesy.” He set his hands on Piers’ chest, his hands moving in slow circles to rub the muscles there. “And yes, I love being cheesy. My point still stands. There is more to beauty than just your appearance. Yes, your appearance might not be conventionally attractive anymore, but I think it is. It is also the other things. Your- your-” he paused, frowning as he stared in the distance. 

“My?” Piers asked. “What’s the word you’re looking for?”

“It’s… the things you do. The-” he leaned his head back, letting out a sigh. “I hate English.”

“No, you don’t. You wouldn’t be able to talk to me otherwise.”

“Shut up.” Sasha leaned forward, pecking his lips. “I mean the things you do.”

“What things? I need some more information, Sash.”

“The- Proklyat'ye.” He hissed under his breath.

Piers smirked. “Yeah, don’t know what that means.” He chuckled.

Sasha rolled his eyes with a smile. “Funny. I mean the things you do. When you mumble the lines when we watch Alien. Or the way you make your coffee. Or the order how you get dressed. Your little things.”

Piers remained silent for a few moments, thinking. “You mean quirks?”

“That’s why I’m describing it, because I can’t remember the word.”

“Lil’ shit.” Piers smirked, leaning up to peck his lips.

“Perhaps that’s one of my quicks.”

“Oh yeah, it is.” 

“But this is my point. Beauty is not just measured when it comes to appearance. It is about quirks too. It’s about all of you, inside and out.” He reached you, cupping his face between his hand. “And I mean that.” he leaned in, kissing him gently. He smiled softly when he felt Piers’ arms wrapping around his waist. He leaned in closer, deepening the kiss.

After a few moments, they pulled apart, Piers held him close, resting their foreheads together. “Thank you, Alexander.”

Sasha opened his eyes, they widened a little bit considering the fact he rarely got called Alexander by Piers. “What for?”

“For everything, for thinking of me the way you do. For loving me.” his arms tightened just a fraction around his waist, pulling Sasha closer.

“It’s my honor, Piers.” He leaned in to kiss him again; pretty sure of the fact they weren’t going to be finishing the rest of the movie.

**Author's Note:**

> Excuse the Google Translate Russian used in this:
> 
> Proklyat'ye. - Goddamnit


End file.
